The Federal Government has pledged to work with the nation’s leading indigenous computer manufacturer, Omatek, to make computers available to educational institutions across the country.
Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, who disclosed this, said the partnership was in line with the nation’s Industrial Revolution Plan and the Local Patronage Initiative of the Ministry of Trade and Investment.
“We will be able to achieve the much needed linkage between our abundant natural resources and the application of appropriate technology and production processes through the ICT in our schools and industries. We are, therefore, designing a strategy for a workable partnership between Government, Omatek and the banks to make available your made-in-Nigeria computers to all our schools and colleges,” the minister said.
While acknowledging the giant strides made so far by the company, especially in pioneering local production of computers, the minister assured local manufacturers of the Federal Government’s support and commitment towards providing an enabling environment for their businesses to flourish.
“I am delighted that this ongoing success story is being championed by a woman of high entrepreneurial repute in the person of Mrs Florence Seriki, partnering with government to actualise the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is indeed a noble initiative.
“I reiterate here that the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda is a project which recognises the need to consciously nurture Nigerian industries in the quest for a sound economy developed on the back of industrial growth. We are therefore assuring Omatek of the necessary support all the way.”
Aganga noted that government would continue to strengthen its partnership with the private sector in order to realise the objective of the NIRP.
“We have done a lot to remove the bottlenecks in the business environment and the positive results are already manifesting in terms of a friendlier business environment (Nigeria is the preferred destination for investment in Africa – UNCTAD), and an enhanced industrial capacity utilisation,”
Aganga said, adding that recent figures from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) revealed that the capacity utilisation in the textile sector had increased significantly from 29.14 per cent in 2010 to 49.70 per cent as at 2011.
“We are not yet where we want to be, but we shall get there. What government needs is the right collaboration with sound private sector operators who are always on the drawing box, thinking outside the box, in their bid to give back to the society,” Aganga said stressing that Omatek surely falls within this productive group.
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